"Spirits, where are we going? Ba Sing Se?"

"Katara, we've only been walking for two hours."

"Two hours? How much farther is this place?"

Zuko bit his tongue, holding back a retort and the urge to smack his forehead against one of the many trees surrounding them. The waterbender had done nothing but complain and argue and generally annoy him for the duration of their trip. Obviously, walking wasn't her preferred method of travel.

"You know what I think?" she said, making him wonder if she ever stopped talking. "I think you're leading me in circles."

"And why would I do that?"

"To tire me," she said. "You know, make me too exhausted to fight so you can pummel me then get on with your evil scheme."

"Okay, you caught me. That's exactly what my plan was," Zuko said, words dripping in sarcasm.

"Don't mock me," Katara said, the glare she had fixed on the back of his head intensifying. "Even if that wasn't your original intention, I know you think it's a good idea."

Rolling his eyes but making no comment, he quickened his pace. The girl yelled at him to slow down, running to catch up.

They walked mostly in silence (Mostly being the keyword. Katara still made the occasional aggravating comment), until finally the sun began to lower beneath the horizon and a small village came into view.

Well, the remains of one, anyway.

Cracks lined the uneven earth, the ruins of collapsed buildings scattered across the area. At first, it appeared to be the results of an earthquake. But then they noticed things the earth didn't do naturally – pillars of rock jutting crookedly out from the ground, pinning people against the few standing walls, crushing their bones; walls of charred earth rising in the middle of the streets, shields against the villagers' attempts at self-defence; spears piercing now-lifeless bodies.

Katara stared in wide-eyed disbelief. "Oh my God," she breathed, barely audible.

Zuko surveyed the destruction, stomach churning when he realized there were no survivors.

A muffled whimper sounded from one of the collapsed buildings.

He glanced at Katara. She nodded. "I hear it, too."

Cautiously, she approached the rubble, one hand poised at the waterskin on her hip. Grunting, she pushed away one of the larger rocks.

A quivering ball was sandwiched between two boulders, head buried in her arms, legs tucked up against her chest. A terrified, but alive, little girl of five years old.

She lifted her head, peaking up at them through tangled bangs and swollen eyes. "Y-you won't h-hurt me, will you?" she hiccupped.

"No," Zuko said, stepping into her view. "We're gonna help you."

She nodded, allowing him to gently lift her from her hiding place. Again, she whimpered, indicating injury. Laying her down on the ground, he stepped aside, giving Katara room to start healing.

"Can I go to sleep?" the little girl asked, head already lolling to the side.

"Sure," Katara said, smiling kindly. "Resting is a good idea."

As the girl drifted to sleep, Katara placed a water-coated hand to her forehead, liquid glowing as she began to heal. Zuko watched in silence, trying to make sense of everything. Why had this village been attacked so ruthlessly? It wasn't exactly a Fire Nation stronghold, so no advantage could be gained. And it seemed doubtful that the villagers had provoked the attack.

Then again, what did he know? There was no way to tell what had happened just by looking at the wreckage.

"I'm gonna go look for more survivors," he said quietly, rising to his feet. Katara nodded mutely, too engrossed in the task at hand to speak.

Carefully, he picked through the collapsed buildings, trying to focus on the rubble and not the corpses. Silently, he counted the survivors. After ten minutes of searching, the tally remained the same.

"Did you find anyone?" Katara asked when he returned, her focus still on healing the girl.

Noting how civil she had been acting since they had discovered the orphan, Zuko shook his head. "No."

Her shoulders sagged, whole body seeming to deflate. "Well, one's better than none," she murmured.

They were silent for a moment, trying to focus on the positive instead of the negative and failing miserably.

Everyone, the entire village, was dead.

"Was this your mom's village?" Katara finally asked.

"No, that'll be at least another day's walk." Gesturing to the child, he asked, "How is she?"

The waterbender smiled slightly. "Pretty good."

He nodded, and that was the end of their conversation.

XxXx

Without discussion, they both decided it would be best to take the girl with them. She was young and homeless and needed someone to take care of her. It would be cruel to abandon her.

Deciding on where to take her was another issue.

On the one hand, they were very close to where Zuko's mom was suspected to be – half way there, in fact. There might be someone there who could adopt the girl.

However, it was dangerous - the people who had attacked her village might be there. Plus, she would slow them down considerably. A day's journey might turn into two or three days of walking.

They could just turn back and return to the temple. It was safe there and plenty of people could look after her. Problem was, all those people would have to leave and carry out the invasion plan, which definitely wasn't a safe environment for a five year old.

Zuko and Katara sat in a forest clearing not far from the destroyed village. Trying not to wake the child, they discussed their options in hushed voices.

"I say we take her with us," Zuko said. "There's a higher chance of danger if she comes to the temple, and we really don't have the ability to take care of more people. Especially not a child."

Katara shook her head, returning to the habit of arguing with everything he said. "What if the village we leave her in gets attacked, too?"

"That's a chance. The invasion promises danger."

"Who says she has to come with us? Someone can stay behind and –"

"No! Our forces are already weak, we can't afford to let go of anyone else."

The waterbender opened her mouth to retort, then, seeming to have no idea what to say, clamped it shut. With a huff, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Fine."

The pair sat in tense silence for a few moments, eyes locked in a wordless battle, both wondering why the other had to be so difficult.

"I'll stay up and keep watch. You go to sleep," Zuko finally said, shifting his gaze to the crackling fire.

"No, I'll keep watch. You go to sleep."

The offer wasn't made out of kindness, but instead mistrust. Nonetheless, the ex-prince agreed, crawling into his sleeping bag and shutting his eyes, trying to forget the day's events and find sleep.


Author's Notes: Errr... Sorry for how crappy this may be. I edited it at 10:20pm, so my brain's not at it's best. Also, I'm worried about writing a small child. Dx

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Avatar' or any of its characters.